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Dec 29, 2023

Verge Aero produces Philly light show

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The city of Philadelphia was rocking over the weekend, both in the hours leading up to Sunday's NFC Championship game and in the raucous aftermath of the Eagles' resounding 31-7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

One of the weekend's most memorable events occurred Saturday night, when the sky above Philadelphia was filled by a spectacular light show over the city's Museum of Art.

A total of 300 drones were used to produce the seven-minute show, which drew thousands of fans to the oval on the Ben Franklin Parkway.

Flying in formation, the drones produced images of quarterback Jalen Hurts dancing, center Jason Kelce, defensive end Brandon Graham, a flying Eagle, and a special QR code fans could use to enter a drawing to win free tickets to the NFC Championship game.

Did anyone catch the drone show by the @Eagles last night? We were down filming with @visitphilly Check out the whole show below! #droneshow #dronevideo pic.twitter.com/1vWjGTDaRB

The show was produced by the Philadelphia-based company Verge Aero.

Founded in 2016, Verge Aero works out of Pennovation Works at the University of Pennsylvania, a hub of the modern-day robotics industry.

The company uses specially designed drones and control software to produce its incredible shows, which have also been seen during President Joe Biden's victory celebration and on the TV Show "America's Got Talent: Extreme."

Come support your @Eagles at a live drone show tonight! #drones #droneshow #lightshow pic.twitter.com/P1zzaNdYIf

"Drone shows use hundreds – or even thousands – of synchronized, illuminated drones that create giant images hundreds of feet up in the air," the company says on its website. "Each drone is a 3D, independently positionable pixel, turning the sky into a giant canvas.

"Verge Aero's platform manages the technical details so that designers can focus on their vision. Shows are created using Verge Aero's drone light show software, which creates the flight paths for all the drones and validates that they are 100% safe to fly.

"Shows are wirelessly uploaded to the Verge Aero X1 light show drones, which use enhanced GPS for extremely precise positioning – down to the centimeter. This means that one pilot can control hundreds of drones at the same time with the push of a button."

But if you're looking to book a drone show to end your Eagles' Super Bowl victory party with a grand finale, we've got bad news: It's not cheap.

It generally costs between $50,000 and $200,000 for a customized, outdoor light show, according to Verge Aero.

"Because the technology is so new, drone light shows are still quite expensive," the company said. "But prices are coming down over time as the technology matures."

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